An 18-year-old Saint Paul man is facing charges after a 16-year-old girl told police he punched and kicked her and dragged her toward a car at a Summit-University neighborhood park last week, then pressed a handgun to her forehead during a traffic stop on Saint Albans Street. Jonathan Jose Villagomez Martinez was charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and threats of violence following the September 16 incident at Carty Park near Grotto Street.
According to MN Crime, police were called to the park around 8:28 p.m. after an anonymous caller reported seeing a man attack a girl and drag her toward a gray Dodge Charger. Officers stopped the Charger on Saint Albans Street, identified Villagomez Martinez as the driver, and found the 16-year-old girl in the passenger seat before driving her home.
The girl told police she had gone to the park specifically to avoid Villagomez Martinez, per the police account relayed in the complaint. Instead, she said he pulled her to the ground, grabbed her by the hair near the basketball court, and punched and kicked her in the head, according to her account in the charging documents.
Girl Describes Gun Pointed at Her Forehead
The girl's account, laid out in the criminal complaint, describes an escalating series of assaults. She said Villagomez Martinez pulled out a handgun, racked its slide, and forced her into the passenger seat of the Charger. As he forced her into the passenger seat, he allegedly threatened to kill her, then slammed her head into the dashboard. At the traffic stop, she said, he pressed the gun's barrel to her forehead.
An anonymous witness separately told investigators they saw a man lift the girl, throw her to the ground and raise his fist, according to the complaint, though that witness said they left before seeing the rest of the encounter. The girl was left with a bruise beneath her right eye, a swollen lip and a chipped tooth.
The girl said Villagomez Martinez apologized to her right before officers called him out of the car, and told her not to say anything, according to her account. She initially stayed silent out of fear of retaliation, per the same account, before detailing the assault to police. Officers released Villagomez Martinez.
What Minnesota Law Says About the Charges
Villagomez Martinez faces a second-degree assault charge under Minnesota Statute § 609.222, which carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine, rising to 10 years and $20,000 if the assault causes substantial bodily harm, according to the Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. He also faces a threats-of-violence charge.
A Park With Deep Roots in the Rondo Community
Carty Park is in Saint Paul's Summit-University neighborhood, near Grotto Street. The park is named for the Rev. Denzil A. Carty, a prominent Saint Paul civil rights advocate and Episcopal priest who died in 1975, according to MNopedia.
An October 2025 MPR News report said Saint Paul was on track for a 70% drop in homicides and had recorded nine at that point. The report also said the solve rate for nonfatal shootings rose from 37% to 70%. The city's violence-reduction initiative was created in 2021.
It remains unclear from available court records what relationship, if any, existed between Villagomez Martinez and the 16-year-old girl before the alleged attack. Whether Ramsey County prosecutors will pursue additional charges, and the defendant's current bail or custody status, has not been detailed in the filings reviewed so far.
